Ronaldo fails to score, Portugal suffers a crushing defeat against the Netherlands
Portugal ended their World Cup 2018 campaign in a very bad way. Despite only having to face a Netherlands team that is in the process of rejuvenating its squad, Ronaldo and his teammates suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat.
Three days ago, Portugal had a friendly match against Egypt. That was a match in which they only won 2-1 thanks to two consecutive goals from Cristiano Ronaldo at the end of the match. However, in the early morning, CR7 could not save Portugal once again.
Coach Fernando Santos' team was quite confident when entering the match. They pushed up their formation to dominate the game against a Netherlands team that actively chose a defensive counter-attacking style. Despite having a lot of possession, Portugal could hardly find the net against the Netherlands team, who played with a 5-man defense.
Things were not going well for the Portuguese. While they were still looking for the first chance, they were hit back. From a quick attack in the 11th minute, Van de Beek fired a shot from just outside the box. It was a weak shot, but striker Memphis Depay rushed in to score the opening goal for the Netherlands.
Portugal could not improve their attack after conceding the first goal. Meanwhile, the defense of coach Ronald Koeman and his team continued to play very sluggishly and lacked concentration.
In the 32nd minute, Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt crossed from the right wing for veteran striker Ryan Babel to head the ball from close range, giving goalkeeper Anthony Lopes no chance to block.
Portugal conceded their third goal before half-time. Their defence was sleepy again, allowing centre-back Virgil van Dijk to unleash a powerful shot from inside the box after a run of play.
Having lost 3 goals in the first half of a friendly match, Portugal was not too keen on making a comeback in the second half. They still played at a moderate attacking pace. It was not until the 50th minute that Ronaldo left his first mark with a dangerous header, but could not beat goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen.
The fate of the match was decided in the 62nd minute, when defender Joao Cancelo was shown a second booking after a blatant foul, leaving Portugal with 10 men.
Despite having more players, the Netherlands did not change their defensive and counter-attacking tactics. This made the match even more deadlocked for the rest of the match. As a result, the Netherlands defended their 3-0 victory.
With this defeat, Portugal will certainly have a lot of work to do from now until the 2018 World Cup.
The 3rd defeat in the 21st century
Portugal have lost by three goals in the first half for the third time since the turn of the 21st century. The previous two defeats were 0-4 to France in a friendly in 2001 and to Germany at the 2014 World Cup, which also ended 0-4.
